Hey everybody! I hope your all doing well wherever you may be. Today I’m bringing to you a preview of my new Reebok Premier 4 Pad, Glove and Blocker that I ordered and is expected to be at my doorstep around December 1st – December 21st. I know that is a pretty big window but thats the timeline Reebok gave me. For those of you who are visual learners, below is a diagram with all of the specs and 2 pictures of goalies in the NHL wearing P4 gear.
So I ordered these on September 30th and I thought very long and hard about everything from the colour zones to the specs to how sweet could I look if I changed a couple things around. So lets start off with the colour zones.
So my team for this season is the Hawks so clearly the colours I’m working with here are red, black and white. So for the leg pads I wanted to keep an all white face design but wanted to have some type of color so I got a Reebok Gusset. I got a black Reebok logo on the front and a white Reebok logo on the side of the pad. For the P4 logo, I got the P red and the 4 and the circle black.
For the blocker, I did the same by getting an all white face but I really wanted to get coloured finger protection but I asked Reebok to mod it so the front fingers would be red and the thumb could be white but they couldn’t do that so I just got that white but when I do get the blocker I’m gonna put some red sock tape on the finger protection and try to make it look decent. As for the logos I got a black Reebok logo on the front and on the back I got a Black Reebok Logo with a red trim. For the P4 log, I got the p black and the 4 and the circle red.
As for the catch glove I stuck with the same theme as the rest, getting an all white face. On the back I really wanted to get a coloured tee but this year Reebok changed it so that with a coloured tee you have to get a coloured tee bar so again I asked Reebok to mod it but they could so I just got that all white but when I do get the glove I do intend on putting some red sock tape on the tee to give it some color. As for the logo I got a black Reebok logo on the front and a black Reebok Logo on the back with a red trim. For the P4 logo, I got the p black and the 4 and the circle red. I also got a skate laced pocket on the glove because it does help to “widen” the pocket and is extremely stylish.
Now lets talk about the specs. For the specs lets start with the leg pads. I got a 36″ + 2.5″ sizing because a lot of big guys like Mike Smith, Pekka Rinne and Ben Bishop all use 36″ pad up to the knee so myself being 6’4 I think that’ll be just right. As for the thigh rise 2.5 seemed perfect to help me out in narrow butterfly situations and will leave no wholes in a wide butterfly. For the flex I really like my pads to curl in so I stuck with a Pre curved double break core and single break on the outside roll. For my boot, I look it nice and soft so when I stretch out and do the splits I get maximum coverage and I like the boot to be shallow that way it sits higher on my skates. For the leg channel I got the tight fitted one because I like my leg channel to be tight and give me ultimate control as opposed to say an open leg that kind of fumble around. For the strapping system I got adjustable so I could try multiple strap options and really find what I like best. For the knee I really liked the soft feel the P4’s in the local PHL, they had a soft “tempurpedic” feel so I went with there knee quick release soft knee cradle.
Now lets talked about the catch glove. First off I am a full right goaltender so as you could imagine I got the full right option. For the catch angle I got the regular 590 degree break which is the equivalent of a 60 degree catch, I liked it in the past so I stuck with it and I also added an extra inch to the pocket to make it a little bit more deeper. I also got a 2 pice thumb and cuff because I never have liked the one piece option, I find it a little bit stiff, theres no flexibility and just isn’t for me. The 2 piece offers great flexibility and overall feels a lot more balanced in my option. The rest is pretty much stock, I got the webbing strap, straight T, game ready glove and like I said before a skate laced pocket.
For the blocker, mine is as close to the stock blocker as you can get. I got a full right blocker and regular sized, centred suregrip palm. 1 mod I plan on doing when I get the blocker is replace the lacing on the side with a skate lace.
Currently the gear that I am using is kind of old but kind of new. I have a pair of 37″+ 1″ Bauer Supreme One80 goal pads. Bauer Vapor X60 blocker and a RBK P1 glove. Obviously I think its safe to assume a complete improvement in the glove department and I really believe the rest of the equipment is without a doubt the best on the market. Once I get everything you can expect a full unboxing of everything and a couple weeks later individual reviews for each piece of equipment.
PLEASE DO NOTE that all pictures belong to their respective owners and are from NHL.com and I am in no way, shape or form are trying to infringe on any copyright material.
So I hope you enjoy this article on what the 2012-13 NHL Season could have been!
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Syko About Goalies! 